Samsung has been leading the way in foldable smartphones for almost three years now, but the future of the company’s foldable ambitions has always been showcased at trade shows since 2008. With three versions of the Galaxy Z Fold (and two smaller Z Flips) behind the conglomerate’s belt, Samsung Display showed off a slew of prototypes at CES detailing what it thinks the future of foldables will look like. For some reason, Samsung has released official how-to videos of these devices but does not post them anywhere, but there are several mirrors on YouTube by Abhijit Mishra (1, 2, 3, 4).
They are not from the Galaxy division (it will be Samsung Mobile), and they are not full-featured devices. But Samsung Display technology has been the driving force behind the Galaxy Fold line of devices. Now the display division wants to work with even larger and more complex form factors.
Tri-fold concepts “Flex S”and “Flex G”
If one fold works on the Galaxy Z Fold, then no doubt two will be even better. The first concept, “Flex S”, folds into an “S”shape (it’s more like a “Z”, but the “S”has much better Samsung branding synergy). This gives you a visible front display when the device is closed and a wide aspect ratio when open. Flex S is available in versions for phones and tablets.
The commercial Galaxy Fold needs a completely separate screen to have a front display, while the Flex S only needs one screen. The Huawei Mate X tried a design with one screen and only one multiple, but that meant the entire device was a display when closed, and there was no “safe”side of the desk space. The Flex S solves this problem with a second fold.
The tablet opens to a 16:10 aspect ratio, which seems like a good match for video content, tablet apps, or three side-by-side phone apps. When closed, the tablet takes the form of a phone, but this prototype looks like it will be one of the biggest “phones”on the market.
This device looks like it’s built exactly like the scaled-up Galaxy Z Fold. There is a raised plastic frame around the flexible OLED display to keep the panel attached to the phone. As with the fold, the edges of the display are exposed around the hinge area, and the T-shaped protective cover will hopefully prevent anything from getting under the thin display.
The phone version of the Flex S has already appeared at other shows. It shrinks into the same triple design, to the point of looking like a device in the 4-inch range. When closed, you get a small one-handed phone that you can then open into a larger device for media use. Making a small phone bigger is a great idea, and it feels more functional than the Galaxy Z Flip, which is just a regular phone that folds in half.
Unlike a tablet, the Flex S phone has a convenient camera setup thanks to the camera bump on the front left side of the device. This is not a demo, but I would imagine that this could work as both a front and rear camera by simply folding the first piece of the screen and using the other half of the display as a viewfinder.
The right panel of the device is a bit unusual. Samsung decided not to expand the display to the end of the phone. Instead, the phone becomes a transparent plastic block. When you fold the phone, there is now a main display on the front and a clear plastic strip that opens up part of the display on the back where you can show a message or something.
The Flex G devices have the same idea, but everything folds inwards, so there is no screen on the outside. They protect the screen a lot better when it’s in your pocket, but you won’t get quick notifications, which we’ve found limits other foldable devices. Again, there is a dead zone on the right side of the phone, but this time Samsung fills it with an S-Pen holder. This prototype has a front camera but no rear camera.
The larger version of a tablet is just the whole screen. There are no cameras and I’m not even sure it has a charging port.
Samsung also showcased a phone with a fold-out flexible display. It’s similar to the design we’ve already seen from LG, Oppo, and TCL. In phone mode, the flexible display covers one side of the phone, with an additional unused display on the back. When it’s time to switch to tablet mode, a set of motors expands the body of the device, causing the flexible display to stretch from the back to the front, causing the display to “grow”. Numerous companies have demonstrated this design, but no one has yet commercialized it.